Well I will need a place to vent and complain and cry and possibly cheer during the upcoming season so here is where I will do that.So the final 25 opening day roster is set and we open Monday night in Toronto. My expectations this season? I hope they win 77 games. Let's talk pitching...ughHere is our 5 man rotation that was announced today:VerlanderEdwin JacksonArmando GalalalalaraggaZach MinerRick PorcelloBonderman is still sidelined with pain and such from his blood clot situation from last season. They state he should be ready and in the rotation in a few weeks. I don't think it makes that much of a difference as I have given up on Bondo every coming into his own. I think he is a 11 or 12 win pitcher and that is that.Hopefully Verlander can turn this around and get back to form from the years prior to last years debacle. Hopefully getting rid of pitching coach Hernandez and his constant tweaking of Verlander and others will prove to be beneficial. Jackson as #2? I guess in that lineup though I would rather see Armando there. Miner is Miner. I will never understand how this kid is still on this team. Another problem with Leylands over used loyalties. Porcello...I am excited to see this kid. But I don't think he should be up just yet. I hope when Bondo gets back Rick is sent back down to continue to develop. Unless he comes out and is a beast, but I don't think that will happen. This might be Leyland taking a shot in hopes it works out and gets him a new contract.Bullpen:I think we may actually have a decent bullpen this year. Obv better than our starting rotation. Very excited about Perry, our pick last year make the team. He has had a great spring training and looks to be the real deal. Fernando "I wear my hat crooked and look like an ass on the mound" Rodney was named our closer today. I don't think it will take long to see Perry take over that spot. I have watched Rodney play for 3 years now and he just plain sucks. Another loyalty issue. Rincon, Seay, Lyon, Bonine, and good ol Nate Robertson fill out the rest of the bullpen. Why they gave Nate $17 million is beyond me. Oh yeah, Leyland loves him so...Batting:Good to see Sheffield gone. Big issue in the city these days but I don't believe there will be a time this season where anyone can truly say "Well if we still had Sheff then we would have won/scored/etc." Some people say that he is feared by pitchers around the league. That a pitcher will be scared because he is sitting at 499 HR's. Really? I think the .179 BA might make them feel pretty safe. Oh an he crushes the ball! (foul). This combined with picking up Anderson from Atlanta helps in a few ways.We now have a legitamate OF to give Granderson days off, possibly come in and replace Guillen in LF when common sense starts working and if Carlos had no range at SS and 3B what makes you think he can chase balls all over LF. Or he could go in RF and Mags is the DH. Personally I still want Guillen as the DH but whatever, Mags would be good too but I think Mags still has some legs left to play OF.We will most likely have the worst 7 8 9 combo in the bigs this year batting wise. With Inge, Everett, and Laird/Treanor. But we have a solid 3B and a allegedly solid SS and two decent Catchers. Give and take I guess. Cabby will have a monster year. I hope. I think again this year comes down to pitching. Last year it was starters and BP, this year I think starters will be the downfall. We'll see. We will be lucky not to finish in the basement of the AL Central this year. But I am still giddy with excitement that Tigers baseball is about to get underway.

Verlander doesn't miss bats. I haven't looked at the numbers, but I am convinced he'll never be anything better than a #3 starter in the majors because:1) He doesn't miss bats. For a guy that sits pretty comfortably at 95-96, people don't swing and miss at his fastball very much. His curveball is kind of a knee-buckler, but it doesn't have the late break/toxic tilt to generate swinging K's like a good slider does.2) He can't locate down in the zone. I don't think I've seen him throw back-to-back pitches for strikes in the bottom quarter of the zone in forever. When he misses, he misses up over the plate and gets rocked.3) I am too sad to keep going.EDIT-http://www.fangraphs...e...&position=PCheck out the "plate discipline" numbers. Click on "show averages" to compare him to the league-average. It's not pretty

Ognwpgunqwpiefn qp3iorjq[wioerj[OWIRJ[I called it. Wife was all excited (she is a bigger tigers fan than I) and I said before the start of the 8th that it will be sad they will lose this game. she got mad and I pointed out that either Lyon or Rodney would blow it and sure enough, Lyon solidified my undying hatred for him. This little fuck whined at the end of spring training because he was not made the closer. Said that he was under the impression that is why he was brought in. Well son, it helps to actual pitch well to be a closer. You didn't continue to help your case tonight you stupid fuck. weuognhqepr9uth q[3tiu4f

QUOTE (digitalmonkey @ Wednesday, August 18th, 2010, 1:55 PM)

Steve,

It doesn't matter who you start because you have a horse shoe up your ass so far I'm not really sure how you get through the day. You must be gay.

I'm still pissed about last night. I don't want another 0-7 start. I won't be able to handle it. I'm fragile. 3-4 is perfectly fine with me. Edwin, who was a big ? in my mind proved me wrong for at least one game last night and to see what happened really annoys me. Annoys me more that I saw it coming a mile away. I probably stated this above or a million times last year, I hate the way Leyland micromanages the pitching during games. At first I was pleased that he let Jackson stay out as long as he did since he loves to pull pitchers who make one mistake regardless of the inning. Then he puts Seay in and Bobby does his job. Why not let him finish it out that inning? Why bring in Lyon who was absolutely horrid all spring training, giving up homers like it was his job. Why not Perry at least, you know the guy who gave up no runs all spring? Maybe because Lyon has been whining like a baby because he was supposed to be the starter so you figured he would have a fire under his ass to pitch well to get that job he so desperately thinks he deserves? So Lyon comes in and gives up a 3 run shot. Inge, who for whatever reason has stated that he will be better at the plate because he is the 3B again, comes in and gets his 2nd HR of the season and ties it up and what do we do? We bring Lyon back out? WTF? You have Perry, Rodney (yuck), and Robertson (who went 123 the night before in his one short inning) in the BP and you bring out the donkey who couldn't get one out without giving up a 3 run shot? Who had three guys hit off him and hit him hard all three times, one line drive down the middle, a HR, and a shot at the warning track. WTF Jim? Oh, sorry, you thought he was a better matchup. Oh, sorry, yeah, bases loaded one out. Yeah, clearly the matchup was on your side there. Idiot. Can't wait to see how it goes tonight. Miner is pitching so it won't be too good to start with.

Wow, really have impressed me the last few days. Blew out the Rangers on Opening Day 15-2. Good to see Cabby is not starting off with a slump like last year. 3 HR's and 10 RBIs so far.Starting pitching is looking okay. Galalalalalalragagaga looked really good Friday, Verlander was a little improved on Saturday and Jackson pitched well even though he gave up two homers. 2 bad pitches and the rest of the time her looked great.Yesterdays comeback win was fun to watch. Inge leads off the 8th down 4-0 with a solo homer, his 4th of the year, and by the time he is back up again in the 8th it's 4-4 and there are runners on 2nd and third and he hits a liner down the middle to score two and we end up winning 6-4. Rodney so far has looked so much better than he has the last 3 years. Seems more in control, head is not jerking around, etc, He says he hasn't felt this healthy in a long time so maybe he has what it takes. Still plenty of time though to figure that out.Nice to be 4-3 and not 0-7 though. That is all I care about.

While I will agree Miner is not high on my list of people I want in the starting rotation, I find it odd that after one bad start on a very cold and windy afternoon, where even the other pitcher, Gavin Floyd had a horrendous day, Leyland takes Miner out of the rotation and back in the BP and will run with a 4 man rotation until he either decides to put Nate Robertson back in or wait and see if Bondo will be healthy in the next 11 days. Miner had one very good start, in a dome, and then one terrible outing on a day the winds were 30+ mph and it was in the 30's. I don't think it is time to give up on him just yet. Hell his one start in Toronto was better than verlanders 2 starts this year. Why not put Verlander in the BP as well. Stop micromanaging Jim. You're pissing me off.

QUOTE (digitalmonkey @ Wednesday, August 18th, 2010, 1:55 PM)

Steve,

It doesn't matter who you start because you have a horse shoe up your ass so far I'm not really sure how you get through the day. You must be gay.

Just quietly trucking along nicely. Some little hiccups here and there but for the most part doing what we need to do and that is just win series 2-1. Nice to win a series against KC since they have had our number for years. Helped we only had to face Grienke and not Meche and Grienke. Now we have the slumping Yankees in town and did well in winning game 1 though Rodney is getting scary again. First 5 appearances he gives up only one hit and now his last 5 appearances he is giving up hits and runs like the old Rodney. We'll see. Going to my first game of the season on Sunday against the Indians. Can't wait to get back to the ballpark.

Amazing thing about baseball...one tiny misplay and boom a 10 run inning. If Josh catches that ball it's 2 outs and it looked as if Swisher was tagging to try for home and Josh has shown that he can throw it plus it was a shallow hit and that might have gotten us out of the inning. Don't know what would have happened after that but if he makes that catch and only gets the 1 out I still don't think they light us up for 10. Oh well. Just win tonight and win another series, that is all that matters.Jackson looked good again. Hate seeing him pitch well only to get no run support and having the BP blow up after he exits the game with 0 runs on the board.

I really think Porcello needs to be in AA. Some have made a Greinke comparison (in terms of when they got to the big leagues, not in the type of pitcher they are)...but I don't see it. Greinke at least logged some time in AA and AAA....Porcello has never even pitched in AA.......not that he needs a full a year at each level...but I think the Tigers are making a mistake.

I really think Porcello needs to be in AA. Some have made a Greinke comparison (in terms of when they got to the big leagues, not in the type of pitcher they are)...but I don't see it. Greinke at least logged some time in AA and AAA....Porcello has never even pitched in AA.......not that he needs a full a year at each level...but I think the Tigers are making a mistake.

I agree. I was excited at the start of the season just to see what he has but I didn't think it was the best move to bring him up so early. Part of me thinks Leyland did it to hopefully have Porcello come out like Verlander did in his rookie season and thus maybe increase his chances at coming back next year. But the other part of me realizes that there was no one else that deserved that call up after spring training except him so I guess you had to give him a shot. If Willis or Bonderman were ready to go I don't think he gets on the opening day roster. I hope as soon as Bonderman does get back that Porcello is the one sent down instead of Miner. But it would not surprise me if it does end up Miner getting the boot. He already got it once this season.

Good game yesterday. Nice to see Verlander pitch well. 11Ks. Had great seats a couple rows in front of the Tigers bullpen. Watched Verlander warm up before the game. Nice to win another series after that NYY crap. Also nice if we can keep winning series against Central division teams.1-1 vs the ChiSox2-1 vs Royal2-1 vs Indiansgot Minny in tonight.Inge also still on his getting on base streak. Going to enjoy it till his number fall back to reality.

I agree. I was excited at the start of the season just to see what he has but I didn't think it was the best move to bring him up so early. Part of me thinks Leyland did it to hopefully have Porcello come out like Verlander did in his rookie season and thus maybe increase his chances at coming back next year. But the other part of me realizes that there was no one else that deserved that call up after spring training except him so I guess you had to give him a shot. If Willis or Bonderman were ready to go I don't think he gets on the opening day roster. I hope as soon as Bonderman does get back that Porcello is the one sent down instead of Miner. But it would not surprise me if it does end up Miner getting the boot. He already got it once this season.

i like porcello personally. i think he's very talented and am not surprised at the tigers keeping him up. i like the fact that leyland only gives him 5 innings or so of work, i think it's good experience for him and he's doing very well with it.i can't wait for some of the bigger bats to heat up a little. maggs, placido and grandy will most likely be bat .300 for the season. i'm pretty excited so far this season. And i think it can only get better.

It was great to see Willis get his first win last night. Sadly I was didn't get to watch it all because of the Wings game but I was flipping back at every commercial and intermission to watch him. I don't know what will become of the D-Train but I am pulling for him. For him to be a Major Leaguer and then fall apart and get sent all the way back to single A and not whine or complain once says a lot about his character. I believe him when he said he felt bad for letting the team down and how bad he wanted to get back and be a part of this team and last night was a big step for him. I love watching how excited he gets and how he acknowledges every play behind him. I hope he can keep it up and be a part of this rotation this year. Let's see if Justin can continue his 3 game streak of utter dominance. I will believe it when I see it. He still worries me. If he can put together 2 more decent starts then I will be back on the JV bandwagon.

It was great to see Willis get his first win last night. Sadly I was didn't get to watch it all because of the Wings game but I was flipping back at every commercial and intermission to watch him. I don't know what will become of the D-Train but I am pulling for him. For him to be a Major Leaguer and then fall apart and get sent all the way back to single A and not whine or complain once says a lot about his character. I believe him when he said he felt bad for letting the team down and how bad he wanted to get back and be a part of this team and last night was a big step for him. I love watching how excited he gets and how he acknowledges every play behind him. I hope he can keep it up and be a part of this rotation this year. Let's see if Justin can continue his 3 game streak of utter dominance. I will believe it when I see it. He still worries me. If he can put together 2 more decent starts then I will be back on the JV bandwagon.

As a Marlins fan, I really really hope that Willis puts it back together. Pitchers can do this (completely fall apart and then come back and be effective). I will be rooting for him.....he is one of the game's good guys.

D-Train had his second straight quality start on Sunday. Good for him, sadly he got no run support and Hammels pitched really well. Verlander seems to be getting into a groove now. 7IP 5H 0R 0ER 0BB 8K yesterday vs the Royals. Things seem to be gelling really well and I am pleasantly surprised. Big game tonight with Grienke. I hope we can crush his soul!

I love watching Grienke. He was plain sick as hell last night. EJackson was doing good until he slipped on a bunt and then imploded a little. Brandon Lyon puts me on LFT. I was switching between the Canes/Pens game and this game and I flipped back and Lyon was pitching. I looked at my wife and said, here are some more runs, watch this, and then boom, I think it was Guillen, HR. He sucks so fucking hard that I might actually be dumb enough to say I would prefer Farnsworth in the pen than him. They need to just release this douchebag.Today is looking promising. 8-3 in the 9th but another fine performance from Porcello. Glad to see he has turned it around and I think he deserves to stay.Last 5 games...5-0 32 IP 22H 5R 5ER 10BB 20K 1HR 1.40ERA

Weeee 7 game winning streak. Let's hope they can keep this up. Let's hope Maggie is back on track and can hit another homerun soon instead of 2 months from now. Let's hope they can still win games when not playing the NL Central.